Heidi Takes a Trip

Money being an object, Heidi Fairfax Franklin had to decide where to best put her assets, so to speak.  Finally, her contest-entering had paid off; and she won an all-expense-paid cruise of the Mediterranean.  All-expense didn’t include airfare to Athens or “spirits,” which she assumed meant anything good to drink.  Of course, she’d be on board with three thousand other souls, but she would have her own cabin.  Being a people person, she was hoping to find a suitable companion perhaps to dine with, someone who might pay for a glass of wine, for gods sake.

Gillian wasn’t happy about her taking “off.”  “I had great hopes for you,” Gillian said rather meanly.

“I had great hopes for me too, Gillian, but my career here is going nowhere.  And it’s not for lack of trying.  You’ve handed me nothing but dreck.”

“Then perhaps you’re not right for this firm.”

“Perhaps not.”

Burnt bridges, and Heidi chided herself because she usually found another bridge to be on when the first one burnt.  Oh well.  On with the cruise and she’d think about tomorrow tomorrow.

Before embarking, she decided on a facial and highlights.  She didn’t want to look overly processed, but she did want to show that she was desirable.

“Desirable” wasn’t the word she would use when she left the airplane in Athens.  Unlike traveling with Harold Fairfax, she was the one paying and she was in economy with all the riff raff.  At least she had an aisle, but she was sitting next to someone who had knee problems and had to get up constantly.  Oh well, perhaps by the end of the cruise, she’d be flying home on a private jet?

And yet—  The second day at sea a brawl broke out over deck chairs.  How charming.  Then for meals she was placed at a table with an old couple, he in diapers, and two married couples who were traveling together and complained at every meal that they should have had a table for four.  This was a sign to Heidi that she should eat up at the buffet and leave the dining room to the masses.

She tried to find areas of the ship in which to relax, but it seemed every time she set her fanny down some place a wait staff person would rush over and ask for her drink order.  When she would say, “Nothing right now, thank you,” she got a look as if she was taking up space that belonged to a paying customer.  Now she knew why the cruise was free.  It wasn’t.

There existed a more genteel section of the ship for those who paid for an all-inclusive cruise.  From some portions of the deck where she was allowed to roam, she could view them, their dining room, their lounge.  That was where she belonged.  That’s where the money was.  Heidi, how far you have fallen, she bemoaned.

However, let’s not forget the bright spots, i.e. when she left the ship.  That in itself was a process, but then she was free of the ship’s rabble.  The weather was glorious, the sights were still as marvelous as when she had visited them with Harold, and she thought at several of the stops she could have picked up a gigolo—if she had the spare cash for him and a hotel room.  She laughed at herself.  Where were the men of yore—her yore anyway.

She especially was looking forward to Valletta, the Maltese port.  Glory days with Harold, where he knew someone who owned a yacht. They spent a day swimming in the sea, drinks and a seafood lunch on board.  Oh, Heidi, she warned herself.  You are living way too much in the past.

Yup, the yachts were still there.  Well, away from the cruise ships.  Memory grabbed hold of her and she set her sights on them instead of going into the town.

How—she was going to say “pleasant,” but she stopped abruptly and sheer fury enveloped her at who she suddenly spotted.  Fear also, she would admit to that.  She remembered all too clearly that film Harold made her watch, the dentist pulling out Dustin Hoffman’s teeth.  Yes, “Marathon Man,” Lawrence Olivier always asking, “Is it safe?”  Heidi felt like that woman who had recognized the Nazi and followed him down the street, yelling because here standing on the dock before her was the criminal that ruined her life.

Or—  Was he?  She thought so, but—  Did all Russian criminals look alike?

She stood. Stunned.  If what she believed to be was true—   Then what was this man doing, walking freely around Europe while she was practically bankrupt!  Name, name, name, recall the name, damn it!  Oh, if only she had internet but roaming charges would bankrupt her.

He was with several men, laughing, ho ho ho, up the gangplank they went—setting sail?  NO!

Without a thought to her own safely, overtaken by her anger, she rushed forward, chasing after them, but was stopped at the bottom of the gangplank by a very hard body, which she would have admired, if her mind wasn’t engaged elsewhere.  “Whose yacht is this?” she demanded to know.

He ignored her.  But she wasn’t going away.  She stood, arms crossed, her face contorted in anger.

Finally, he said, “It’s Mr. Karnofsky’s.  Please move along.”

Smiling and nodding, Heidi said, “Oleg.”  Oh, yes, now she remembered.  Oleg Karnofsky and Vladimir something and—was it Boris?  When Will Stanton had been arrested, she had devoured the details of his crimes and his criminal associates.  Were they all here on this yacht?  Enjoying her spoils!  “Would you please tell Oleg that I would like seven hundred thousand dollars to be deposited into my bank account.”

He scoffed and turned his head away from her.  But she had no intention whatsoever of going away.

“Perhaps you’d like to mention Will Stanton and Allgate Reality to him?  Does the FBI know where he’s located?”

At that the thug, although the well-developed thug, took out his cell and made a call. She had no understanding of what he was saying because it was in some language that wasn’t English. Should she assume Russian?

It didn’t take long for Oleg to appear at the yacht’s railing.  She stood staring coldly back at him.  With a nod to Mr. Hardbody, he signaled that she should be let on board.

But—should she go?  What if he set out to sea and dumped her in the Med?  Would anyone noticed?  Would Celebrity Cruise care enough to alert authorities before they sailed on?  However, what was life without money, money she had earned?

Decision made, however foolhardy it might be, she walked the gangplank.  To her doom?